Since I’m also trying to be a frugal person with respect to my exercising, that meant no joining the tennis club that I wanted to join, or recreational sports league. So what’s a frugal gal to do in an expensive city like Toronto? Take advantage of all the green space and free tennis courts. The Parks & Recreation department of Toronto does a good job with the free courts around the city, so that the nets were up several weeks ago, and the courts ready to go. They’ve even converted some of the free hockey rinks around the city to tennis courts, which is nice. Sure, they’re not the swanky courts I’ve played on in the past, but considering I’ve not played regularly in over 15 years, it’s not a huge issue. In fact, I would feel worse paying for a tennis club membership and then only going like 3 times all year. This is something I’ve actually done before, so I didn’t want to repeat that this summer.

One issue with the free tennis courts is that invariably there tends to be that group of men (and why is it always men?) who occupy the courts all day, not allowing any one else to play. You’re only supposed to play for 30 minutes at a time, and then if someone’s waiting, you cede the court to them, and then they play. But since there’s like usually 10 men or so hanging around, they just put up a racket on the pegs, leave it there permanently, and play all day. It can be rather intimidating to recreational players, you know? But the one thing I’ve noticed with the permanent players at the park near my house is that they only occupy one of the three courts permanently, so that they let others take the other two, and in fact, I’ve even seen them cede their court sometimes, which is nice. They’re still there watching, which can be added pressure to someone like me that’s supremely rusty, but at least they’re nice about letting others play while they take a break. Other groups at other courts around the city aren’t as nice, so that’s a good thing.

Another form of exercise I’m trying to do regularly is jogging. I rediscovered jogging about 8 years ago, and have been discovering all the green spaces in Toronto as I do it. I used to run through the Spadina extension, as well as Sunnybrooke Park, which are nice areas. Now that I live close to High Park, I’m exploring this area. It’s impressive that once you enter the park you don’t feel like you’re in a big city any more. Very nice.

So there are two activities I’ll be doing that are frugal and somewhat free this summer. What are you doing to get out and moving this summer?

This is an official post from Adventures in Debt.

There are quite a few things you can do to get more active both at home and at the office, and none of them require any extra expense:

Set a timer that reminds you to get up from your desk. Go for a walk around your floor once every 15-20 minutes. This will help get  your blood circulating, which can help wake you up, thereby removing the need  for an afternoon caffeine boost. Plus this helps you burn some calories as well, and maybe even help solve that problem you’ve spent all morning thinking about.

Park your car a little further away from the office door. This is a tough one to do in Canada, especially during the winter months, but it’s a simple trick to give you some extra exercise you don’t even have to think about. Parking further away just means you have to walk a few metres or feet more to get to your office. All those steps build up over the course of the week and month, so go on, give it a try!

Pull out those free weights or exercise ball from the back of your closet. You know those items you bought in one of your New Year’s resolution moments? Yes, I’m talking about those. Pull them out and start using them. If you’re unsure of what exercises you can do that won’t injure yourself, open up your favourite search engine and start looking. There are tons of sites that will give you tips, some even with videos to show you the proper techniques and positions. And if you just don’t feel like doing anything complicated with that exercise ball, try sitting on it while watching your favourite television program. Or when knitting, or reading. Trying to keep yourself on the ball will exercise all sorts of muscles without you even knowing it.

These three tips are the easiest things you can do without spending any extra money. Personally, I’m not a fan of gyms. I’ve had memberships to various ones over the years, and I discovered that I’m just not a gym person. I’d rather put on my running shoes and go for a jog, or play a game of tennis at the free courts around my house. These are the things that get me moving, what are the things that get you up and about?

This is an official post from Adventures in Debt.